Offices and Reward Structures

A contributing factor to my current discontent in my position at Microsoft is that I've been moved into a new office, doubled up with a coworker for the first time after being here two and a half years. Our team hasn't really been given enough office space to fit everyone, especially since we have quite a few temporary employees that are taking up offices that would normally be apportioned to full time employees.

There's also a Microsoft policy that offices are given out based on longevity with the company. It's the one thing here that doesn't seem to have anything to do with performance. An employee that's been here ten years and is now just skating by, in danger of being managed out of their team or out of the company, still gets a much better office than the employee that's been here three years and is producing fantastic results.

To me, that's just ridiculous. I'm guessing here, but it's probably a way to mask performance. As I look around, I see that the reward structure is largely invisible. If you pay attention, you can figure out some stuff, and let's face it, people know which of their coworkers are doing a great job. But people's levels aren't known, review scores aren't known, bonuses aren't known, and there are awards that are considered confidential where you may receive one but aren't supposed to tell anyone. In essence, differentiation is largely missing at Microsoft.

I've been reading Jack Welch's new book, Winning, and he has a section on differentiation. Differentiating between your strong performers (top 20%), your solid performing majority (middle 70%), and your poor performers (bottom 10%) is a policy Welch strongly endorses. It's something that makes a lot of sense to me. The underlying principle is that being open about performance rewards the best, encouraging them to stay the best. It also provides incentive for the middle 70% to at least consider trying harder, because they can see the potential rewards. For the bottom 10%, it lets them know they are in the wrong place and encourages them to seek alternatives.

I believe that on my team, I'm in the top 10%. I've certainly been trying to be. But the reward structure is a bit disappointing. Perhaps I'd do even more if the reward structure was commensurate with the effort and success, like it was in my consulting small business.